A number of the strong and the weak between being out and having surprising results

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New Delhi . The ODI World Cup-2023 being played in India is at its final stage. The title match will be played between India and Australia on Sunday. At the same time, the journey in the tournament was not good for many cricket teams who came to India with great hopes and aspirations, the biggest name of which was the defending champion England, who could not even make it to the knockout stage.

The answer to the question of who will be the champion of the World Cup 2023 will be known after a day. Now as the tournament heads into its final stages, let’s take a closer look at the performances of the teams that missed out on capturing the trophy this time.

Pakistan

Pakistan suffered many setbacks in the World Cup. Neither the team’s bowling showed any edge nor did their batsmen show strength. At the same time, neither the captaincy nor the bat of Babar Azam worked.

However, while returning to the tournament, Pakistan came close to the semi-finals but lost in the last days and were out of the race for the semi-finals.

The 1992 champions started the tournament with two impressive wins over the Netherlands and Sri Lanka. But then four consecutive defeats dashed Pakistan’s hopes. The final equation left Pakistan in a position where they needed a big win against England at the Eden Gardens to book a place in the semi-finals. However, that equation was very complicated and Pakistan lost in this match also.

Pakistan faced impossible scenarios to qualify for the semi-finals. Where they had to win by around 287 runs while batting first or win with 284 balls to spare while chasing. Both tasks were challenging and almost impossible for the team.

Pakistan’s semi-final exit means they have only played in one World Cup semi-final since losing the final to Australia in 1999, in 2011.

Their recent semi-final exit reflects their limited appearances at this stage of the tournament over the past few decades.

afghanistan

Afghanistan had a memorable campaign in this year’s World Cup as they recorded a stunning 69-run win over England in the first major upset of this World Cup.

Afghanistan ended its 14-match losing streak in the Cricket World Cup. After going winless in the 2019 event, they turned the tables against England, using a mix of skill and guile to defeat the defending champions.

Afghanistan started their campaign with a defeat at the hands of Bangladesh and followed it up with a defeat against hosts India. Then, they pulled off a major upset by defeating defending champions England.

After losing against New Zealand in their fourth league match, Afghanistan registered three consecutive wins against Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Netherlands, which breathed life into their campaign.

After this, Afghanistan had to win both their remaining league matches to reach the semi-finals. But, they lost a winning match against Australia by 3 wickets due to Maxwell’s brilliant innings.

With this defeat, their memorable campaign came into trouble and in their last league match also they had to face defeat by 5 wickets against South Africa.

England

Champion England could not defend its title. In the very first match of the World Cup 2023, they lost to 2019 finalist New Zealand. However, they bounced back with a 137-run win over Bangladesh.

But, what happened after this was quite surprising. After one win and one loss, England lost five consecutive matches. This was the first time when the English team had such a bad situation in the World Cup because before this they had lost only four consecutive matches in the 1996, 2007 and 2015 World Cups.

Even captain Buttler admitted that it was difficult to assess how bad his team’s performance had been.

“I’ll go back to the dressing room after this and look at the players sitting there and think how we got ourselves into this position with the talent and skill in the room,” Buttler said after the 8-wicket defeat against Sri Lanka. “

England’s bowlers were the weak link in their first three defeats. Earlier, a batting collapse against Sri Lanka was blamed for the fourth defeat.

The team he selected supported that vision. But England did not keep their word and the outlook did not look stable from the start of the tournament, ending their campaign in seventh place.

The only good thing for England is that despite their poor performance, the Jos Buttler-led side managed to secure their qualification for the 2025 Champions Trophy.

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka’s campaign ended in the tournament after a five-wicket defeat to New Zealand in the last league match of the tournament at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

Out of the nine matches played by Sri Lanka, they won only two matches against Netherlands and England while they lost the remaining seven matches. Sri Lanka finished ninth in the points table with four points and a net run rate of (-1.419). Also, this team could not secure its place for the 2025 Champions Trophy.

The 1996 champions’ 2023 World Cup campaign was plagued by injuries as three of their players were ruled out midway through the tournament, including captain Dasun Shanaka. Not only this, top fast bowlers Mathisha Pathirana and Lahiru Kumara were also out of the tournament due to injuries.

bangladesh

Bangladesh faced another disappointing World Cup campaign. With seven losses and two wins in nine matches, they were the first team to be eliminated from the race for the semi-finals.

Bangladesh made a winning start to their campaign by defeating Afghanistan by 6 wickets, but their performance declined and they lost six consecutive matches.

The Shakib Al Hasan-led side ended their losing streak with a 3-wicket win over Sri Lanka in their final league match, but it was too late to revive their chances for the semi-finals.

Like Sri Lanka and Pakistan, Bangladesh’s campaign also ended with a one-sided defeat against five-time world champions Australia.

Netherlands

The Netherlands impressed on the global stage, beating strong teams like the West Indies and Zimbabwe in the qualifiers and outperforming expectations.

Following a similar script, they gave the cricket fans the biggest upset in the history of the World Cup 2023 with a 38-run victory over South Africa.

Then, this team registered its second win in the tournament by defeating Bangladesh. However, they finished last on the points table with only two wins from nine matches. But his performance has gained attention and support from fans.

–IANS

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